Summit: It's a rural village within a village

COVENTRY, R.I. — Summit, so named as the highest point of the Providence, Hartford and Fishkill Railroad, was established in 1856.

Christine Dunn Journal Staff Writer ChristineMDunn

COVENTRY, R.I. — Summit is a historic neighborhood within the larger village of Greene in western Coventry. Along with Greene, Summit was once one of Rhode Island’s railroad villages, established in 1856 when the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad opened stations there.

Today, Summit’s long-abandoned railroad tracks are being converted into part of the Coventry Greenway-Trestle Trail bike path, which is actually more than a bike path.

The Coventry Greenway is also open to walkers, runners, skateboarders and roller skaters, according to Guy Lefebvre, director of Coventry’s Parks and Recreation Department. There will also be an equestrian trail running parallel to the path. Parts of the equestrian trail will “meander” away from the main path, but will join with the path at bridges and other points, he said.

When completed, the path will range across town, from the West Warwick line, through the historic mill village of Anthony in east Coventry, through rural western Coventry to the Connecticut border.

The first 1.5-mile paved section was opened to the public in September 1998. This fall, another 4.5-mile section west of Summit will be completed, and another 4.5-mile section east of Summit is scheduled for completion in 2015, Lefebvre said.

Summit, about two miles east of the Greene railroad stop, once included just five white clapboard houses built around the Summit Baptist Church, which was constructed 1862. Summit also included a library and the historic Summit General Store, which dates to 1888 and is still in business.

The original Summit Baptist Church building was in use until a new building was constructed nearby in 2001. The Coventry Historical Society now owns the old church building.

According to the Rhode Island Historical Preservation & Heritage Commission, “the area now called Summit was known as Perry’s Hollow in the 18th century” even though it was “located on a ridge between the watersheds of the Flat and Moosup Rivers.”

The commission’s Coventry survey report notes that Summit “was the site of a sawmill, gristmill, store and no more than five houses. … The village grew up when the Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad came through in 1856. … The village’s name became Summit because it was the highest point on the railroad line. The railroad is gone and the depot demolished, although the other public buildings have survived.”